


Still and Silent

by Bofur1



Series: BofurGlóinNori [5]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Best Friends, Brotherly Angst, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Poor Bofur, Ri Family Feels, Spells & Enchantments, Storytelling, Ur Family Feels, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Bofur1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bofur struggles with his emotions after Bombur falls in the Enchanted River. Bifur is worried, so he recruits Nori for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still and Silent

_“Bombur! No!” Bofur’s scream drowned out thought. Eyes wide in horror, he stumbled toward his unconscious brother. Óin put an arm out to stop him._

_“Don’t touch him, lad,” the physician cried urgently, “or you may end up the same—!”_

_“I have t’ see him, I have t’ see m’ brother!” Bofur gasped, struggling to get through even as Dwalin and Thorin barred his way also. “Let me through!”_

_“Calm yourself, Bofur!” Thorin commanded over the miner’s desperate shouting, only to be whipped in the cheek by one of Bofur’s thick braids as he jerked his head around._

_“Please! Please!”_

Yelping in alarm, Bofur startled awake when someone gripped his shoulder. Bifur didn’t seem to realize he was awake right away and continued shaking him.

“Let me go,” Bofur ordered sharply, shoving him away. Taken aback by the sudden force, Bifur fell head over heels, his expression one of surprised hurt. Breathing hard, Bofur rose to his feet and tilted his cockeyed hat back into its position. When this was done he stepped over Bifur and made his way toward the unmistakable, prostrate form of his brother.

Sinking down in the foliage, Bofur tentatively placed his hand over Bombur’s. “Hey again,” he whispered. “How long’re ye goin’ t’ stay like this, eh? C’mon now, ye’re makin’ me—” Bofur broke off, inhaling deeply. Quickly rising to his feet, Bofur began shuffling down the path.

“Where are you going, laddie?” Balin called after him.

Bofur didn’t break his stride. “Just goin’ fer a short walk.” Before Thorin could even open his mouth, he added, “Don’t any o’ ye worry ‘bout me. I won’t leave th’ path.”

Soon he was out of eye-and-earshot distance from the rest of the Company. Bofur took a breath, fumbling for his flute. He tried to remember a song and when that failed, he began composing one. He went over the notes in his head:

_G, A, B, G, A, B, B, B—_

“B, B, B,” he growled, his teeth audibly grinding against each other. “O’course. That’s all I can think of—that one note, B! Aulë curse it!” With a wordless cry of rage, he hurled the flute up into the trees. However, it didn’t clunk against wood and bounce away forever as it was supposed to. Instead, Bofur heard it slap another person’s palm.

“Oi, now, what are you doin’? Tryin’ to hit me in the head?” Nori scolded softly as he slid down from his tree branch.

“What are ye doin’? Followin’ me?” Bofur barked, doubling his fists.

“You were the one who intruded on _my_ space,” Nori disagreed. He glanced down the path toward the camp. “Anyone noticed I’m gone yet?”

Bofur felt a bit of his anger cool at his friend’s calm tone. “Nah. But ye know Dori’ll freak when he does.”

Nori shrugged. “Eh, I’m not worried. Ori can handle him.”

“An’ if he can’t, he’s always got Bombur t’ help—” Bofur’s grin vanished and his eyes lowered to the ground.

Sighing, Nori reached out and settled a hand on Bofur’s shoulder. “You’re worrying us, mate.”

“‘ _Us’_? What, so ye’re th’ advocate fer everyone, now?” Bofur retorted, shoving Nori’s hand away.

“Since none of us can understand a thing Bifur says, yeh, I am,” Nori snapped back, matching his tone. “He’s worried sick about you! Desperate enough to ask for _my_ help, and you know how much he trusts me!”

Something dimmed in Bofur’s eyes at that. “Oh...”

Nori softened his tone a bit. “When was the last time you ate anythin’?”

“When Bombur was cookin’,” Bofur whispered miserably.

“Yeh...gotta admit, Dwalin’s no slouch, but I think Balin’s been adding a few pinches of this and that,” Nori agreed wryly. When he saw no smile on the miner’s face, he sighed. Gesturing to the deep, dark rings beneath Bofur’s eyes, Nori told him quietly, “Mate, you look positively ghastly. You’ve barely slept at all since Bom’s splash. Not that I blame you...”

Tugging hard on the flaps of his hat, Bofur began shuffling back and forth. “I—I just can’t process it, Nori! Every time I look at him I’m expectin’ him t’ open his eyes an’ say it was some big joke, but...h-he never does.”

Nori pursed his lips. “You know, I might have told you this story before, but there was this one time when I took Ori to play in the forest near our house. I was watchin’ the little guy while Dori was out and I decided it’d be good to get out of the house. Had a great time, we did. Then I was showin’ him how to swing from branch to branch and...” Nori swallowed uneasily. “He slipped. Fell hard... was just layin’ there all still and silent, like Bombur. I panicked, didn’t know what to do—of course I didn’t, how could I?”

“An’ then?” Bofur asked anxiously.

“Then Dori came back, saw what had happened. Surprisingly, he didn’t even yell at me or anythin’, just scooped up Ori and ran to Óin’s. While Ori got his head stitched up, Dori came out. For a few moments I really thought he was going to punch me or somethin’. All he did was put a hand on my shoulder and say to me exactly what I’m goin’ to say to you right now.” Nori carefully tilted Bofur’s chin up so he could look him in the eyes. “Don’t worry. Everythin’ will work out as it’s meant to.”

Without another word, Nori turned and headed back down the path, playing a slow tune on Bofur’s flute. With blurring vision, Bofur followed. When he reached the camp, Bofur approached Bifur and hugged him, apologizing for pushing him. Then he took a bowl of Dwalin’s soup and settled down next to Bombur, waiting for him to wake up.

 


End file.
